It was a great relief to her when the curtain fell upon the performance, the last two acts of which had been entirely lost upon her.
Before she left the box she observed Gatliffe pass out of the stalls with his female companion. She remained in the cloak-room longer than there was any occasion for, that she might give time sufficient for her husband and Laura to pass out of the theatre.
She felt assured that she should faint if by any chance or accident she met them face to face.
Enveloping her head and shoulders in a shawl she passed through the grand entrance, and tripped into the earl’s carriage. When once in this vehicle she felt that she was safe.
Her husband and his fair enslaver would not be likely to cross her path. She was silent and thoughtful during the journey home, and Lady Marvlynn, who was at no loss to divine her thoughts, had the good sense to refrain from making any observation upon a subject which she knew must be a painful one.
She therefore contented herself with giving a running commentary upon the evening’s entertainment, and her conversation was chiefly directed to Miss Jamblin, who was at a loss to understand the reason for the altered demeanour of Aveline.
To say the truth, the farmer’s daughter’s experience of fashionable life did not in any way make her discontented with her own humble sphere. The more she saw of the “upper ten,” as they are termed, the more assured she was that real happiness was as little known or experienced by the votaries of fashion as it was by those who could not aspire to so exalted a position.
Patty was a simple-minded unsophisticated girl, who had but little taste for the blandishments of wealth and power; nevertheless she had become greatly attached to Aveline, who, throughout their brief acquaintance, had treated her with uniform kindness. She was, as a matter of course, much pained to find her so sad and thoughtful, and had sufficient penetration to comprehend that there was some powerful cause for this.
What the cause was she was at a loss to divine.
When they returned to the earl’s town mansion Aveline excused herself upon the plea of indisposition, and retired to her own room. She kissed Patty and Lady Marvlynn, and then withdrew.